


Midnight Chat About The Past (That No Longer Exists)

by ObsidianCreates



Category: Milo Murphy's Law
Genre: And he has burritos, But it's okay because now he has a boyfriend, Cavendish has a realization, Dakota has an angsty backstory, I don't actually know if I headcanon any of this as Dakota's backstory, I just had a small idea and decided to write it down and it became this, Late Night Conversations, Late Night Writing, They just have a chat, no proofreading or editing we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:42:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26835370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObsidianCreates/pseuds/ObsidianCreates
Summary: Cavendish realizes something, and wakes Dakota up to get an explanation. They have a chat about alternate timelines.
Relationships: Balthazar Cavendish/Vinnie Dakota
Comments: 10
Kudos: 42





	Midnight Chat About The Past (That No Longer Exists)

It’s sometime in the middle of the night when Cavendish suddenly sits up, turning on the light.

Dakota groans, putting his pillow over his face. “What’re you _doing?”_

“You stopped something called the Mississippi Purchase, and I have no clue what that is.”

“Yeah? And? I told you this ages ago,” Dakota mumbles sleepily.

“So that means you’re from another timeline! Doesn’t it?”

“Mmph, yeah.”

“Dakota, _why have we never discussed this?!”_

“Because why would we?”

“Why would- you’re from an _alternate timeline!_ How different was yours to this one?”

Dakota pulls his pillow tighter over his head. “Cav, I don’t wanna-”

“Oh no you don’t,” Cavendish says, tugging Dakota up into a sitting position. “We _need_ to talk about this. Here we are, as... significant others, and I’ve just realized I don’t know a _thing_ about your personal history before we met!”

Dakota sighs, and grabs his sunglasses from the night stand. “Alright, alright, I’ll talk a _little._ But if I sleep in tomorrow, it’s on you.”

“Very well, that’s fair.”

“Okay, what do you wanna know?”

“Let’s see... well, what was it... _like?_ Describe it in... oh, I don’t know, literary setting terms.”

“... Okay... uh... kinda post-apocalyptic, a little? Not crazy bad, but like, there _was_ a lotta gray skies, smoke stacks, things like that.”

“... _What?”_

“Yeah. There was this whole rebellion thing, some billionaire guys or something wrecked the world a bunch of years ago, I dunno. We didn’t really have history class.”

“Wh... but... but you’re so... _relaxed._ So... cheery, most of the time! _”_

Dakota grins. “I know, right? It’s great. Basically once I ended up here, where things _aren’t_ completely terrible, I took advantage of it.”

“But then... how did you _end up here?_ Someone invented time travel in that universe?”

“Yeah, not sure who, though. Like I said, no history class. It was... oh boy. This is not middle-of-the-night-whimsical stuff.”

“... We... we don’t _have_ to discuss it right now, I’m sorry for pushing so hard.”

“Nah, nah, it’s okay. Just... prior warning, you know? Basically, society was set up as one big _agency._ Remember how I said that old gnome lady reminded me of my mother?”

Cavendish’s eyes widen. “Oh, gravy and giblets! Do your family not-”

Dakota shakes his head. “Looked ‘em up when I got hired, nothin’. Probably for the better, though, because they were _not_ happy people. Having kids was basically just Making New Agents, so she uh... wasn’t exactly _nurturing._ It was her job to train me, not make sure I was, you know. Happy.”

“... So did you have to... fight people?”

“I was mostly a scout. Looking for food, supplies, that sort of thing. Lots of times I just came back with wax lips.”

“... Wax lips? You mean your habit of eating wax lips when you find them... is because of _that?”_

Dakota nods. “So what I _think_ happened, based on stuff I gathered over the years, was that somehow the Mississippi Purchase lead to the founding of this company that made wax lips. They found some weird, revolutionary way to make them, and they mass-manufactured them for years. But they over-produced, set a bunch of dangerous precedents and laws, all kinds of stuff, that lead to the end of the world.”

“... _Wax lips?”_

“Makes as much sense as pistachio monsters.”

“Mmm, I suppose that’s true. But then, why did you _collect_ them?”

“They were made of different stuff in my timeline, they could kind of trick your body into thinking you ate real food. Good way to keep from going hungry when rations were low.”

“So... is that why you’re so infatuated with food?”

“Yeah! We didn’t have burritos, or spaghetti, or Chinese takeout, or _pizza..._ ah great, now I’m starving. Where were we again? ... Oh yeah, how I got here. They used to just send people back all the time to try and stop stuff, and you had to sign up for training to do that. I got sick of scouring for scraps and figured I’d give it a shot.”

“... Give it a shot? You decided to embark on a world-saving mission that _casually?”_

“Well, yeah. No-one had any real dreams or hopes about saving the world, especially not me. I just figured I could make things a _little_ better, maybe take the machine out on joyrides and bring back some fruit, I don’t know.”

“But... you did stop it?”

“I went back one day, and things just sort of... fell into place. I prevented the purchase, and everything completely changed. I went back to my own time, and bam. A whole new future, _way_ better than mine, in place of the one I knew.”

“... Did it sadden you?”

“Not really. Soon as I saw how much better things were, I decided it was time to relax. I was pretty young, had a whole life ahead of me now... Block kept me on as an agent, and I just rolled with it.”

“... That all sounds... _horrifically_ traumatizing,” Cavendish says after a moment. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. I managed to prove to Mr. Block that I was at least _genuinely_ from a different timeline, not just a guy whole stole a time machine, and part of my training for _that_ bureau was to see a therapist for a while. Then the day I met you was when I was dismissed from it. The burrito was a sort of celebration.”

“... And you still decided to buy me one as well?”

“It’s nice to be able to share things sometimes.”

Cavendish stares for a moment, unsure of how to respond to such a casually heartbreaking and bittersweet statement. In the end, his response his... less than the heartfelt comments he’d considered. “... How have we _never_ discussed any of this before?!”

Dakota shrugs. “Doesn’t matter to me anymore. I’ve got a better life, I’ve got time to relax, I’ve got my tunes, and I’ve got _you._ My past literally doesn’t exist anymore, so why bring it up?”

They sit in thoughtful silence for a few minutes.

“Does... does all of _that..._ have anything to do with... saving me, all those times?”

“I dunno. You’re Cavendish, what are you gonna do? I wanted to save you, so I did.”

He leans over, and gives Cavendish a quick peck on the lips. “Now can we get back to sleep? Because otherwise I’m going to knock you out with this pillow.”

Cavendish blinks. Did Dakota even _have_ pillows in his old timeline? What about beds? Blankets? And didn’t Dakota technically _save the world?_ Doesn’t this mean Dakota has done so, or at least had a _part_ in doing so, _twice?_ How can he be so casual and flippant about that?! And why wouldn’t he use that to get a better job at the Bureau of Time Travel?!

Before Cavendish can ask any more questions, Dakota reaches over and turns off the light. “Night, Cav.”

It’s only moments later that Cavendish hears Dakota begin to snore.

... Hmm.

He lays back down himself, looking at Dakota’s peaceful, resting face. Cavendish takes one of Dakota’s hands in his own, and watches a small smile form on his sleeping partner’s face.

... No wonder Dakota doesn’t feel a need to dwell on his past.

The present... is pretty good.

Cavendish smiles, and shuts his eyes. Oh, he’ll _bombard_ Dakota with more questions after they wake up, of course. 

But for now, he just snuggles closer to his partner, and enjoys the moment as he drifts back to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> (Yeah I don’t know where this came from. It’s the middle of the night and I just started typing and all of this happened. But I like it, so I’m posting it XD)


End file.
